Burning Through the Ice
by Youkomon
Summary: Surrounded by ice, snow and a deathly chill, Nova must rescue a fellow team member...again. Misunderstandings and almost civil conversation follows. [Sprx x Nova]


A fic which actually has no point to it. (gasp). I must be losing my touch…

Vacation present. And of course, since I'm going somewhere _very _hot and sunny (ha, ha to all you British folk who went to Spain coughYami Katiecough) this story is set somewhere very, _very_ cold.

Rated for Sprx's hormonally imbalanced mind and Nova's thoughts…she doesn't have a lot of patience with his mouth that appears to be all too well connected to his brain…

* * *

There were only two real trains of thought to follow when one was smashed through a thin sheet of ice into the depths of a freezing lake. The first was…

'**Damn it's cold…I hate the cold!'**

And the second…

'**This is all Sprx's fault!'**

Which brings up to observe the plight of a certain yellow-furred individual. And having been sourly beaten and thrown across a long distance by a strange mutant blend of Yeti and silver-backed gorilla, she was not in the most pleasing of moods. She was a fighter and losing was not really part of her daily routine.

And then in set the survival instincts.

Struggling against the natural impulse to inhale, she winced as the ice gripped at her lungs and sent her bolting towards the surface. She struck upwards, scrabbling for the hole she had made upon her entrance, a form of panic seizing her convulsing limbs as the murky water blocked her usually keen eyesight. She swallowed down the panic with difficulty, recognising it's alien invasion stealing across her thoughts and gripping control of both her mind and movements. In a wild act of inspiration, her fists flung out against the surface, producing along a feeble crack as a few lines sprouted outwards in thin veins of blues. She stared.

'**Yup, this is defiantly Sprx's fault.'**

She shook her head, ignoring the burning sensation in her lungs as they boiled along her diaphragm that groaned with the lack of oxygen. She needed to breathe _now!_

A thin sheen of light danced in her throbbing eyes and she kicked outwards, smiling as her anger pulsed through her wrists to emit a light gold glow. The water molecules shuddered, vibrating furiously around the glow as the liquid started to boil with the rapid emissions of heat. With a grimace, Nova sent her fists upwards, letting the heat and pressure of the fizzing bubbles propel her upwards like a buoy, her hands easily burning through the diminishing ice. She winced at the sudden heat, closing her eyes against the little pinpricks of hotness that scorned her metal arms and face.

Then a breeze grazed her face, light whiplashes of oxygen raining down and washing away the water.

She wretched, body grabbing for mouthfuls of cold air as it invaded her greedy lungs and fed her poor half-starved heart. Her nails dug into the ice surrounding her as she attempted to spread the top half of her chest evenly across the slick surface, mind racing as she sought out her enemy on the bank. A thin whirl of drills wrecked through to her eardrums and a slight zapping of blue light confirmed her vision as Gibson played the universal role of bait while another monkey silhouette slipped past the thug's legs to his weak spot.

Where the devil were Antauri and Chiro?

Oh right, mountain range, checking out the remote pathway for any indication of evil. Amazing how water damped your memory circuits.

Nova sighed, leaning down as though to embrace the ice as she steadied her wispy breaths and prepared to heft herself out. Her eyes idly glanced round as she did so, freezing as they rested on another jagged tear in the icy glimmer, just as ragged as the one she had first purged through not six metres away.

She gasped as her knuckles clenched instinctively, in avertedly pressing half of her body mass onto a singular area of ice in shock.

"Holy Shuggazoom."

A slight crack alerted her to her perilous situation and she flung her wrist to the other side of the hole. Her arm arced round widely to evenly distribute her weight as a portion of the ice buckled threatingly. She heaved another sigh, wearier than the last, taking an cynical pleasure in the way a jet of white air issued from between her heat-parched lips. She was guessing that her complexion was starting to mirror Gibson's.

Then, without the slightest hesitation or reflection on her next actions, she slid out of the perimeter of cold water by using a mixture of snaky movement and old-fashioned elbow grease, crawling over to the area that had caught her attention. Taking a deep breath, she sealed her lips shut against the world and smoothly eased herself into the dark liquid, trembling at the way it sealed off the sound of Gibson's shouts as it closed above her head.

Her eyes peered downwards, squinting to make use of the limited light source from above.

'**Where are you?'**

She cursed slightly at the way her imagination caused her to jump at the patches of darkness below, visualising grotesque masks of horror and the damnation of drowned skeletons complete with rotting flesh hanging luridly from their bones…there were better places for this kind of story-making.

Then she blinked as she spied a brief glint of shimmering light cutting harshly through the darkness beyond her feet. A twinkle…a twinkle of what? It was like the gleam off metal when a faint trace of sunlight touched it gingerly through the wintry light…this phenomenon was common along the ridges of a monkey's helmet.

Nova struck out downwards instantly, wasting no time with delusions or playthings of the dead as she let the carefully controlled strokes of the advanced swimmer take hold of her wiry limbs. She fluently sailed towards the object, noting with trepidation at it's stillness as it continued to sink steadily. As she grew closer, she could feel her heart slide down inside the soles of her feet as she made out the shape of a tail and an angler head the same size as her own. It was a monkey alright. One of her boys.

Grimly, she snatched out and seized the male by the armpits, kicking fiercely as she began the upwards heave to the surface. This time she could make out the distinct shape of the holes above, having been submerged in an overwhelming shade of darkness, it was easy to spot the tell-tale signs of rioting light beaming through the gaps.

1...2...3...she barely counted the seconds stretching up into a vast amount of time she didn't want to contemplate. But finally her heat touched the crest of a minute wave and she broke free, lips puckered and already grasping for air.

Kicking lightly, she thrust the body of her comrade outwards onto the ice with all her strength until he came skidding to a halt onto a patch of what she judged to be more solid ice. It was only then that she noted the colour of his fur.

'**Oh, it would have to be _you_!'**

She groaned, beginning the pain-staking journey of belly-crawling through the tundra to his side. She paused once or twice as she emerged from the water at the warning creaks, spewing black water from her flanks until she was confident enough to move. She hurried her pace only when she dared, her eyes tracing a desperate, aching look onto the faintest trace of blue she saw surround his white mouth. Gradually she crashed onto his scarlet fur, exhausted by her rescue attempt, before striking up onto her hands and knees, breathing a sigh of relief as did so; her prediction had been right, the ice here was study enough to hold them both.

She then turned her attention to her partner, animaliscally running her nose over his chest to partake in his spicy scent of life that accumulated around a pumping heart. She frowned at the way the fur held only a whiff of that usually vibrant scent. That definitely wasn't a good sign. Even more worrying was the slight temperature it clung onto stubbornly; it should be a lot warmer than that.

Her eyes fell onto his chest, suddenly realising that it wasn't moving at all.

'**Shit.'**

"Stay with me Sprx!" she muttered, lightly backhanding his cheeks in an effort to stimulate his breathing pattern. She then squeezed her hands together into a minute cubby-hole of pressure and pumped down on his chest, hoping to get his diaphragm twitching, maybe unleashing any torrent build-up of water stored within his lungs.

He didn't make a sound.

'**Shit, shit, shit.'**

He carefully coaxed the jaw muscles open, wondering if that would ease the situation. She was at a loss: Gibson was their medical adviser, not her! She was used to killing things not healing them…her heart let out a painful pang at the thought of loosing a cherished friend and team mate.

It was at that second something growled deep inside her and a rock-hard interior within her spirit rose up and consumed her self-pity. No. No, not this time. She wasn't going to lose anyone ever again.

But how to revive him?

The obvious answer hit her like one of her own infamous slaps. She groaned. But nethertheless she wasted no time, leaning down and cupping her mouth over his with a great necessity. Nothing passionate knocked, just cold, clammy hope as she pressed forwards trying to breathe life into him…breathing for him.

'**C'mon Sparky…'**

Her hand thumped down on his chest for good measure and slowly she felt a flutter…minute by minute it enlarged, consuming her own breath until she felt a distinct pulse beneath her own hands. With one last steam of oxygen travelling from her to him, she lifted her head away and watched him uneasily.

Slowly, his eyes started to open, a grey tinge littering their depths.

"Huh…w-what?"

"Most intelligent thing you've said all day", she whispered, careful to keep her voice low and calm.

Sprx turned his head to look her in incomprehension before recognition dawned on his features. He tried to grin before his facial muscles tweaked into a violent spasm of coughing, rattling up traces of water from some recess of his inner breathing apparatus. Nova gripped his shoulders, hoisting his weakened body up until he was clear and then eased him down again.

Sprx shivered, feeling the jerking temperature racing along in his own bloodstream and deducing how close he had been to never waking up ever again by the ice in his veins.

This of course, did not stop his mouth from shooting off in the context of a life or death situation.

"Why didn't you jump in and save me sooner, doll?"

Nova visibly bristled, noting the vindictive gleam of amusement in his eye.

"It could have been something to do with the fact that I was drowning at the time!"

She softened though when she saw the shuddering jerking along his body, noticing the faint outline of his teeth as they grit together in an effort to control himself.

"You're cold."

Sprx snorted.

"No, I hadn't noticed."

Nova looked around quickly, a slight line of worry trailing over her face.

'**Urgh…not a blanket in sight.'**

Sprx grimaced before stiffening as he felt a body invade his own area, settling down beside him. A pair of metal arms wrapped round his neck and pulled him closer, flipping him onto his side to drink in the warm scent of fuzzy femaleness. He was dimly aware of her tail easing it's way over his waist and her brow against his own.

"What are you doing!" he squeaked, unsure of where to move or what to do in case of touching something he wasn't meant to touch or committing some horrendous crime that would earning him another near-death experience.

Nova rolled her eyes.

"Sharing body-warmth. Now shut up and don't be such a baby about it."

In truth her harsh words were a reflection of her own embarrassment. But she couldn't risk moving him until he gained more warmth and with no spare blankets lying around she would have to make do with the next best thing: herself.

Sprx gasped, keeping absolutely still as perspiration ran forward onto his brow. Not that he hated this; the sensation of being so close to Nova was pleasant especially with her distinctive flowery scent engulfing his nostrils. Already he could feel himself blushing. He fidgeted slightly earning a snort from her.

"Honestly, the big, bad, ladies man unable to cope with another's female body…all talk was it?"

Sprx cocked a wry brow.

"Not at all, I would just prefer the setting to be a little warmer, say with some stupid guy singing about heartbreak and hotels, maybe with some champagne and a nice, warm, comf-"

Nova's grip became a little more prominent around his neck.

"Whoa there Romero, easy. Don't even go there."

Sprx gave her an amused look.

"What are you scared of? That you might actually enjoy it? Spending time with me?"

Nova didn't answer, opting to look away from his gaze. The red monkey himself, felt a genuine frown morph onto his face. Oh hell. If he had hit the nail on the head, then his chances with her really were shot to pieces.

"Is that it? You don't like being with me? I mean, that's just gre-"

"No!"

The sharpness of her reply halted Sprx's tirade as it shot out past her teeth. He noticed the puckered up wrinkles in her forehead and saw that she was also frowning. Her head still kept itself aside from his searching eyes.

"No, that's not it Sprx."

Silence for a few moments. Then Sprx's eyes widened.

"You're scared of _me."_

The statement was barely a choked whisper and now it was Nova's eyes turn to widen. She spun her head round furiously.

"No idiot!" she snapped heatedly, "if I was scared of you, do you really think I would put up with your terrible puns day in and day out? And I do like being with you, I do, your company is _bearable_ if not _enjoyable_ at certain times, I just…don't like the way being with you makes me feel. It's scary."

Sprx blinked.

"What?"

Nova sighed. This was the closest she had even reached in discussing her feelings openly, just as she knew she's have to one day. She was quite willing to disclose them to him…but only when he finally spat out those words that seemed to choke him whenever they were in perilous encounters with something that wanted to either destroy or digest them. He had come so close once…or twice…and that was the problem. She was a warrior. If she wasn't going to be with anyone, he had to be strong enough to admit his feelings to her. The inability to do so only showed what she despised most: cowardice.

This upset her. Sprx was no coward. He was stupid, but he wasn't a coward. But if he couldn't even talk about what he truly felt for her…that was just a sign of weakness. And she couldn't allow that. She didn't want him to be weak.

Of course, he didn't know all that.

Sprx licked his dry lips nervously.

"You mean…I'm not actually the problem…it's the way that I make you feel that's the problem? Your feelings?"

She nodded.

His face clouded over.

"Oh hell. You women are so _darn _complicated that even **I** can't make a joke about it-OW!"

Nova kicked him none too politely on the shin.

He growled and rubbed his leg, feeling inwardly pleased that he not only appeared to be regaining his body temperature, but that they were back on familiar ground in terms of their sibling-like relationship.

Nova smirked.

"You look better."

"I feel better!" he stoutly declared, "I feel like I could conquer the world! In fact I could probably do a better job than the ol' bag of bones hims-OW!"

He glared at her, now rubbing the back of him head as she looked at him innocently.

"What was that for?"

"You're getting delusional. Obviously the blood was rushing to your head."

"Uh-huh. I'm sure."

He gave her a sour look before staring moodily at the ground.

"I hate women."

"Oh really? Then why do you flirt with every pretty face you meet?" Nova's voice retorted, sharper than a thinly-cut knife.

"I can't help it", Sprx protested, "you girls are all so pretty. It's enough to make any guy's head spin."

Nova looked bored.

"Oh really? Then why don't the others act in the same idiotic way as you do? And don't include Chiro, he's a teenager. He's allowed to be stupidly imbalanced with hormones until he's twenty."

"Okay…Antauri doesn't care. His philosophy _is _his one true love. I doubt he'd know how to even talk to a girl properly…"

"Pfft! And you do?"

"Hey, you wanted an answer didn't you? And Gibson…he…err…probably has a holograph somewhere of some snobby British aristocrat. And Otto does like girls, he's fallen for them before. He just doesn't have my natural charm."

Nova giggled.

"Then why haven't you pulled yet?"

Sprx stuck his tongue out at her childishly.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm a crime-fighting-hero-extraordinaire. I'm not exactly husband material."

"Oh, so you want to get married now."

"Only to the right girl."

"Maybe Gibson can make a holograph for you."

"I don't need a holograph…Holy Shuggazoom, I hope he really doesn't have one…"

"Would it matter if he did?"

"Well yeah, what if it leaked out? Then everyone would think he was a pervert, then they might think I was a pervert-"

"Sprx, newsflash, you already are one."

"…"

"…"

"That one hurt Nova, it really did. Cheap shot. You've scared me, really."

Nova rolled her eyes and removed her arms from his neck, unfurling her limbs as though she were a cat. Sprx regarded these actions in alarm.

"Hey! What are you doing!"

"Weeeelll…now that you're not on death's door anymore, I'm going to actually do my job as a crime-fighting-_heroine_-extraordinaire and help my team."

Sprx blinked and realised she was right: he felt surprisely healthy and the blood galloping through his body was no longing blurring it's way through with a bleeding coldness. In fact, he felt ready to jump back into the fray…except he didn't. Disappointment was stinging him and he wanted her silly, flighty arms enclosed around him again. Their comfortable bubble of teasing and mutual scorn had vanished. Reality was biting...hard.

"Stupid reality."

Nova gave him a puzzled look as she stood up.

"Huh?"

He gave her a pleading look.

"C'mon Nova…just a few more minutes? Do you honestly think they need our help against an overgrown yeti?"

She furrowed her brow.

"Oh yeah…I never did ask…why did you get thrown in the lake?"

He blushed and averted his gaze.

"I err…it was too quick and I never saw it coming…"

He trailed off at Nova's penetrating look.

"You know if you had actually been stupid enough to jump on it straight after it had hurled me down there, I might believe you. But that would mean you would have had to care so much about what was happening to me that you forgot to concentrate on what was happening in the actual battle."

She smiled knowingly.

"And we both know that couldn't possibly be the case, don't we Sprx?"

She turned away from his baffled look.

"C'mon, I'll race ya!"

He smiled a little sadly.

Nova grinned and blundered forwards, catching a flurry of ice and splintering it up into segments that rained down in her wake. She was on fire, burning through the ice: she was unstoppable.

Then Sprx spirited forwards and gained ground, streaking by her in a blur of crimson, boyish determination highlighting his features and make him look so breathtakingly alive that she was forced to gasp outloud at the moment. Then both it and he passed by.

She smiled, a trail of grief tugging at the corners of her mouth.

'**You're still not brave enough to say it…are you?'**

The twinkle in Sprx's eyes shifted a little to something else and he skidded, fingers gripping for a halt as he turned back towards her.

"Hey Nova…I almost died right? Hardly breathing?"

'**Oh yes, a real Sleeping beauty.'**

"Yes!" she called back, wondering what this was leading up to.

He grinned.

"Well…did you have to give me the kiss of life?"

She stared at his unabashed face for a fraction of a second before the fire crackled and seized her loss for words, curving her legs through the whiteness towards him.

Oh, now it was _on_.


End file.
